Ryan, Wiseman earn MACPA awards

By Bill Sheridan
MACPA Electronic Communications Manager

Just another day? Not to Frank Ryan. Not after what he's been through.

Like most Americans, Ryan was horrified by the events of Sept. 11. Unlike most Americans, he had an opportunity to do something about it. A longtime MACPA member who heads F.X. Ryan & Associates of Lebanon, Pa., Ryan doubles as a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. He spent more than six months overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States' response to September's attacks.

When he returned to the U.S. on May 17, he brought with him a new perspective.

"First, I appreciate our personal freedoms much more today than I ever did before," said Ryan. "Second, the empathy I have for other people is heightened. I have a greater sense of awareness of what other people are going through. Third is a renewed belief in the feeling that we all need to work together to preserve peace and help those in need."

That's a lot to absorb in just six months, but Ryan was up to the task. His service on behalf of the country earned him the MACPA's 2002 Public Service Award, presented during the association's Annual Meeting on May 17.

Ryan was one of two CPAs honored during the meeting. Steve Wiseman, chair of the MACPA's Federal Taxation Committee, shared the spotlight when he was named the association's Committee Chair of the Year.

'Deeply touched'

The Public Service Award brightened an otherwise somber job for Ryan. As chief of staff for the Joint Forces Special Operations Command, he was embroiled in 20-hour workdays in hostile territory from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan and Qatar.

So when word came that he was being honored by his CPA colleagues back home, Ryan couldn't help but smile.

"I was deeply touched and honored," he said. "It felt like someone from my own family was saying, 'Thank you.' That meant more than you can conceivably imagine."

Ryan's commitment to public service didn't start on Sept. 11. For years, he has been an active volunteer with St. Agnes HealthCare in Baltimore and with the Good Shepherd Center, a private, non-profit treatment facility in Baltimore County.

But for Ryan, the concept of "public service" took on new meaning after Sept. 11. That meaning was amplified on April 15 when a National Guard soldier under Ryan's command and three other U.S. troops were killed when a rocket exploded while they were destroying captured weapons near Kandahar, Afghanistan. The incident inspired Ryan's operations officer, Col. George Bedinger, to write a poem in the soldier's memory. Titled "Not Just Another Day," the poem explores the far-reaching pain caused by a soldier's death.

A brother has gone away.
It was not just another day.
A child will not understand.
Another will now take his hand.
A mother will feel great pain.
A wife will momentarily go insane.
A friend was lost today.
We all must stop and pray.
Our tears will not be seen.
We may question a higher being.
Our brother will fight no more.
We will continue on with this war.
We have so little to say.
It was not just another day.

Ryan found other meanings in the poem's words as well.

"I began to realize the problems affecting CPAs today are not 'just another day,'" Ryan said. "The work done by the MACPA ... will help restore the credibility in our financial systems that has recently been shaken. That's important, because winning the economic war is critical to our winning the war on terrorism."

Ryan's service in that war is over, and when he retires on July 12, his service to the Marines will end as well. But he brought back an important lesson from Afghanistan, and he's eager to share it with anyone who will listen.

"Always express your thanks," he said, "because you'll never know if you'll have an opportunity to do it again."

Committee Chair of the Year

Each year, the MACPA presents its Max Teichmann Chairman of the Year Award to a volunteer whose leadership helps the association accomplish its strategic objectives. "This year's recipient broke the mold," said MACPA President John Wilson.

As chair of the association's Federal Taxation Committee, Steve Wiseman was at the helm of the first committee to restructure itself as a "community" under the MACPA's new governance and structure model. Wiseman took the reins in helping the group set its goals and align itself with the association's new look.

"I want to share this award with the other committee members who worked so hard on the restructuring process," Wiseman said. "We have a number of members who have been with the committee for many years, and they brought so many good ideas to the table."

In particular, Wiseman's "change leadership" kept the team involved and motivated, and he turned what could have been a painful process into a smooth transition.

"Overall, (the restructuring) went very well," he said. "There were a few people who may have been reluctant to change at first, and we listened to all viewpoints. We didn't make changes if we thought enough people didn't agree with our ideas."

Beyond the restructuring process, Wiseman and his committee help the MACPA prepare its annual promotions and materials for tax season, and he is a valuable asset helping the association prepare its annual Tax Notes publication.

Wiseman also is a politically active volunteer who lends a hand during MACPA activities in Annapolis. His tax-related presentations are a welcome addition to the association's annual CPA Day in Annapolis.

He is a former chair of the MACPA's Membership Committee.

As the MACPA's 2002 Public Service Award recipient, Frank Ryan will automatically be the association's nominee for the American Institute of CPAs' national Public Service Award. The recipient of that award receives national recognition and a $5,000 donation toward the charity of his or her choice.

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